Senior quarterback Joe Bauserman will start Saturday's season opener against the Akron Zips, although true freshman Braxton Miller will also play, Ohio State coach Luke Fickell said at his first weekly news conference on Tuesday.

There was a Tressel back on the field at Ohio Stadium Sunday night, carrying around a football and Ohio State helmet. He smiled for the team picture, hugged DeVier Posey’s mother and made small talk with a few friends. But this has been a strange and even emotional summer for Dick Tressel, who remains as Ohio State’s running backs coach even though his brother is no longer in charge of the program. Jim Tressel hired his older brother prior to his first season in Columbus in 2001.

Linebacker Etienne Sabino had surgery Sunday morning to have four screws inserted into his left hand, which he broke during Saturday morning’s jersey scrimmage. Sabino, trying to earn a starting job, had his arm in a sling Sunday and will miss at least a week to 10 days of practice.

Sabino said his hand got stuck in a facemask Saturday while trying to shed a block.